In The Shadows
by jules828
Summary: Natsu and Gray disappeared years ago to "find their old homes." Ten years later, a young girl, who looks exactly like the two boys, comes to Fairy Tail and tells everyone that her father Gray and mother "Natalie" have been kidnapped. What will the guild do? What does Natsu have to do with any of this? NOTE: undergoing editing and reworking as of 9/10/2020
1. Prologue

**Just as a heads up, I'm starting my first year of college in a week, so I'm going to be updating even less than I already am after that. I'm super excited for college though!**

* * *

Nobody knew what Natsu and Gray did in the shadows.

During the day, they were rivals at the guild, insulting each other with silly names and fighting with fists and magic.

At night, they sat together in Gray's apartment, cuddling and kissing and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears.

Sometimes, they'd start brawls in the guild just so they could sneak away and make out in the bathroom, a closet, outside on the side of the guild, anywhere they could get away from everyone to be in their own little world of love.

But nobody in the guild knew about their relationship. And it would stay that way.

The only people who could have known about their relationship were the dragon slayers. They could smell their scents all over each other and sense the fact that they'd went through with the mating ritual. But they wouldn't tell anyone. They had no right to intervene and tell people about the dragon slayer and his mate.

They would never tell anyone because everyone would look at them differently. They'd stop seeing them as two rivals and start seeing them as two lovers. They'd stop theorizing about what they'd fight about next and start theorizing about when and where they'd go on their next date. They'd stop paying attention to them and start paying attention to their relationship.

Even if that wasn't true, which it was, not everyone would approve of a romantic relationship between two homosexual men. It would tarnish Fairy Tail's reputation as the greatest and most powerful guild in all of Fiore. Further, Magnolia held Kardia Cathedral, one of the three great churches in all of Fiore. They surely wouldn't approve of their relationship either.

The two boys dreamed of their future together; they already had everything planned out. They'd pack up their belongings and run away, making sure to space when they ran out by a couple weeks. Gray would say he was going to visit Isvan, where he lived with his parents before Deliora attacked, for a while and Natsu would write that he was searching for Igneel. The guild would get suspicious when they were gone for too long and try to find them, but they had plans for that, too. They'd both put an enchantment on their guild marks to hide them and prevent the guild from tracking them and cover their tracks to make sure the guild didn't try to find them.

Natsu and Gray would meet up in Crocus and trek by foot (again covering their tracks) to Inconnu. Inconnu was a small fishing and hunting village in Southwest Fiore. It sat right on the coast and was surrounded by a thick forest, and was further hidden by a large mountain range that prevented any train tracks from being built to it. It was almost completely off the map.

Natsu ran into it on a solo mission, and had immediately fallen in love with the atmosphere. Even though it was isolated, it was relatively large. It had a great education system, and many families often stayed there to put their children through school. The fishing was great due to the lack of neighboring towns and the large forest held lots of animals for hunting. Many family lines had been living there for generations, raising their families and making a living for themselves.

Natsu had already gone back to the village to ask if they would hide the two boys there. He had told the mayor about his and Gray's troubles with their relationship, explaining how their guild would never see them as the people they were before and how Magnolia would not accept them. The village lacked any mages, so he had said that they'd both do any jobs for the town, whether it be helping a fellow resident out or defeating a monster nearby. The mayor and the people of the town gladly accepted them, saying they would gladly house the couple and hide them from the rest of the world whether they helped the residents out or not. He also said that all future residents would be informed of their situation, further ensuring their secrecy.

When they would arrive, they would move into the small, cozy home the village had reserved for them. When they were settled, they'd get to work on the business they were planning to start: an ice cream parlor called Fire & Ice. The town lacked anywhere to get the frozen treat, and the two boys knew how to make ice cream homemade. When the citizens had heard about the idea, they raved about it, writing notes to the boys' secret P.O. Box in Magnolia to move in quickly before their children exploded.

At Fire & Ice, they'd have a combination of classic and strange flavors. It would be right in the center of the small town center the town had, a good place where everyone could access it. The freezers and cash registers would be in the back of the store like usual, with one room behind them to make the ice cream as another as a small office to hold their files. There would be benches inside and out front of the small parlor for couples and families to sit, enjoy their frozen treats, and socialize with other customers. Once they were ready, they would hire some local high school students.

They had everything planned out for their future, and were set to move to Inconnu soon. They'd be in an open relationship near accepting people who wouldn't look at them differently. They would make new friends, get married when the time was right, and maybe adopt a child or two.

They would be happy soon.

But, until then, their relationship would stay hidden in the shadows.

* * *

**Inconnu is French for unknown. I thought it fit. No, I do not speak French. I took classes all through middle and high school (and am taking some in college to fulfill my foreign language requirement), but I suck at it. I'm better at math and science.**

**I have no idea if I'm going to continue this, but I have an idea of where it would go. I'll leave it on complete for now. Please let me know (message, review, tumblr) if you want more!**

**I hope you enjoyed this story! PLEASE leave a review! I read every one of them and seriously appreciate hearing what you guys think of my writing!**


	2. Chapter 1

The sun was going down when Gray heard a knock on his door. He rubbed his eyes and lowered the volume on his TV lacrima, making sure that he had actually heard something; it wouldn't be the first time he imagined the noise. But when he heard it again, he got up from his couch and walked to his apartment door. When he opened it, he saw a distraught Natsu in the doorway, tear stains evident on his face.

Gray immediately went into panic mode. "Natsu, are you alright? Come on in, I'll make you some tea."

Natsu sniffled before replying, "N-no, that's okay. I just need to talk to you."

"Alright, come sit on the couch with me." Gray strolled into his living room with Natsu right behind him. They sat down, with Natsu a little further from him than he would have liked. Something was definitely up; his boyfriend didn't act like this unless something was very, very wrong. "So what did you need to talk to me about?"

The pinkette wasn't looking at him, instead diverting his eyes to stare at his hands as he played with them. He gulped and took a big breath before stating, "We have to move to Inconnu earlier than we originally thought." He looked to the boy across from him for a response of some sort, but when all he saw was an expectant, patient look, he continued. There was a pause before he continued, "We're gonna… Gray, I'm pregnant."

About a week ago, Gray and him had mated. Natsu explained to Gray that every dragon and dragon slayer went through a mating season for one week once a year when they had reached maturity. They did not get to choose their mate, and whoever they got would be their one true love forever. The mating ritual was fairly simple, as the mating couple only had to have sex before the dragon slayer bit their partner on the neck.

However, the situation was slightly different for two members of the same sex. It was customary to have children after a couple has mated, but that didn't work for beings with the same parts. So, one person in the couple's body parts changed for the time of the ritual, and would change back after it was over. In males, the child would have to be removed by c-section, and the uterus would disappear from the body after the baby was born. Since Gray wasn't a dragon slayer, all of this would have to happen to Natsu. The two boys had this conversation before mating, and they both decided to go through with it.

When Natsu looked up to Gray again expecting to find a look of horror, the only thing he saw on his face was happiness. "Really?" he asked, "You're pregnant? We're having a baby?" At his nod, Gray yelled in happiness and scooted across the couch to pull the fire dragon slayer into a big hug. After a moment, he pulled away, wrapping his boyfriend in a one-arm hug and putting his free hand on the boy's stomach. "W-we're going to have a child together."

Natsu was surprised. "You're not mad?" he asked. He had thought Gray was going to be pissed and leave him to have and raise this kid himself. If that had happened, his heart would have been crushed and he would have had an empty feeling in his heart for the rest of his life.

His response was only a large smile. "Are you joking? Of course I'm not mad. I love you, and there's nothing I'd rather do than raise a family with you."

Natsu was so happy that he didn't have to go through a rejection; he didn't know how he would have been able to function if Gray left him. He would have cried at his mate's response, bawled his eyes out even, but he held back his tears. There were more important things they had to talk about. "You do know this means that we have to leave now, right? Even though I won't start to show for a while, I'm going to start having symptoms and people will get suspicious. We should also let the people of Inconnu know about our little… situation."

Gray sighed. He was excited that they were going to be moving in together, especially since they were going to a place where everyone was going to accept them, but this is the dreaded conversation he didn't want to have. He would have to be separated from Natsu - and now their unborn child - for a few weeks, which did not make him happy.

"Alright," the ice mage started, "because of your symptoms you should go first. Rent a hotel room somewhere in Crocus. I'll meet you there in a week or two. I'll come as soon as I can, I promise. From there, we can leave for Inconnu."

Natsu frowned. "I don't want to leave you. I don't want to go without you." He covered his face with his hands to hide his tears. Mavis, his emotions were all over the place.

Gray pulled the pinkette's hands away from his face with one hand and wiped the tears away with the other. "Don't worry sunshine," he cooed, "I'll be with you before you know it. And soon we'll be living together in peace, free from the restraints of opinions. But we need to space out when we leave so everyone at the guild doesn't suspect anything."

Natsu nodded and pulled Gray into a deep, tight hug. "Alright. I'm going to go home, write the note, and pack. I'll be gone by morning. I'm going to miss you so much. I love you and I'll see you soon."

"I love you and I'll miss you too, but I'll see you soon. I'll call you to let you know when I'm leaving, so keep your communication lacrima on you."

* * *

The guild was quiet the next morning due to the lack of their fire dragon slayer. It was already noon, and people were getting worried; Natsu was usually at the guild by now. They were about to go searching for him at his house when the doors burst open. Happy zoomed in with a piece of paper in his hand, shouting, "Natsu's gone!"

Everyone's eyes immediately darted over to him. Lucy was the first to speak, asking, "What do you mean he's gone?"

"He packed a bag and left!" Happy responded, "I woke up this morning and there was a note on the bed explaining why he was gone!"

Makarov jumped down from his seat on the bar and walked up to Happy. "Let me see it," he said, an urgent tone bleeding through his voice. Happy handed it over and Makarov read it to the guild.

_Fairy Tail,_

_I'm going away for a while. I'm going to try to find the cave where Igneel and I lived! I don't know exactly when I'll be back, but I know I'll be back soon!_

_Happy, I'm sorry I left without you, but this is something I need to do by myself. And I'm sorry to everyone that I left without saying goodbye. I made this decision last minute!_

_Natsu_

"We have to find him!" Lucy shouted after the guild master finished reading the letter, "He shouldn't have to do this on his own. We can help him!"

The guild went silent; nobody knew how to respond to that statement. Everyone was thinking about Natsu's note, about how he left without saying goodbye, about how he left everyone so quickly again.

Levy was the one to respond. "Lu, I think we should leave him alone." Everyone turned towards her, waiting to hear what she had to say. "He's gone on trips like this before, so this is barely different. Instead of finding Igneel, he's finding their cave."

The guild broke out into chaos, everyone arguing about what to do. There was no majority; half thought that they should search for him and the other half wanted to leave him be. Everyone kept talking louder and louder, and when they were shouting, Laxus broke. "Hey!" he shouted, getting everyone's attention, "Shouldn't we see what Gramps thinks?! He's the one who will ultimately decide what to do!"

The guild members listened, turning towards Makarov for an answer. He thought for a moment before stating, "Nobody is going to search for him. We are going to leave him alone. He's done this before, and he's come back okay. This is no different That's my final decision."

* * *

The guild was even more quiet two weeks later, due to a certain ice mage missing. Nobody really thought about it; Gray's source of fighting was gone, so he didn't have too many reasons to come to the guild anymore. He didn't always come to the guild every day, anyway.

That's when Lucy and Erza burst into the guild, like Happy had done so before. Erza spoke up, "Master, Gray has left. His apartment has been emptied of his most important belongings and he left this letter for us.

Makarov, like before, read the note allowed.

_Fairy Tail,_

_With Natsu gone, now seemed like a good time to go visit the place I trained with Ur again. I'll be back soon._

_Gray_

After he finished, the guild master stated, "We aren't going to go searching for Gray either. He needs to do this; it's about time."

Everyone dispersed, not really worried about him. If they weren't searching for Natsu, they wouldn't find Gray either. Those two boys could handle themselves.

* * *

Natsu walked back from his shopping trip. He had ran out of food in his hotel room, so he went to go get some more.

The pinkette had been bored in his apartment for the last two weeks. He was alone with no friends and no Gray. The only things he could do were what was available in town when he was feeling up to it.

Speaking of feeling up to it, Natsu had been all over the place with these pregnancy symptoms. He was always tired and barely felt up to getting out of bed. He was constantly nauseous and felt like he had to puke every ten seconds; the bathroom was his best friend every morning. His mood was always changing, from being on top of the world to bawling enough tears to fill a lake to feeling so angry steam came out of his ears. And on top of all that, his senses were even more heightened. Smells hurt his nose easier and some of the things he used to love eating tasted absolutely revolting.

He just wanted his boyfriend back. What was taking Gray so long? The fire mage understood why they had to space out when they left, but he was pregnant and deprived of the person he cared for most. All he wanted to do is cuddle with his boyfriend on the couch and watch romantic comedies that would make him cry a river.

When he got back to the hotel, Natsu walked up the stairs to the third floor. His room, number 307, was just down the hall. He shuffled his way to it and took out his key to unlock the dreary room.

However, when he opened the door, it was like the clouds cleared and the sun came streaming down.

Gray, _his_ Gray, was sitting on the bed casually finding a channel on the TV lacrima. Natsu immediately dropped his bags on the floor and ran towards his mate, shouting, "Gray! You're here!" He pulled the ice mage into a giant hug to make up for all the time they hadn't been together in the past few weeks.

Gray hugged him back. "I'm back, sunshine. I missed you so, so much."

Natsu buried his face in the ravenette's shoulder, tears staining his shirt. "I missed you too. It's been so boring without you, you took forever. I thought you were never gonna come." He sniffled, making Gray aware of his current emotions.

Gray pulled back and put one hand on his boyfriend's shoulder, the other coming up to wipe his tears away. "I'd never leave you. We've been planning this for ages, and I can't wait to start a family with you." He looked over at the window, seeing the sun shining brightly as it rose. "Well, it's early in the morning. Now that I'm here, what do you say we check out of this hotel and start making our way to Inconnu?"

Natsu just smiled that big, endearing grin that never failed to make Gray think that they were making the best decision.

* * *

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE READ THIS**

**Sorry if this seemed rushed. I have a lot of homework to do and I just wanted to get this out.**

**Speaking of homework, I'm a college student now! My workload is going to be huge, so don't expect constant updates. Not that I gave constant updates before anyway.**

**I will be continuing this. I have a rough idea of where this is going to go, but I have to plan out the specifics of what's going to happen.**

**I hope you all liked this chapter! Please please PLEASE leave a review, they mean so much to me and I read each one (I get emails when you guys leave them)!**


	3. Chapter 2

**SHIT FUCK I'M SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO UPDATE**

**I'M A COLLEGE STUDENT NOW LOTTA WORK**

**DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU EXPECT THOUGH SINCE I NEVER HAD AN UPDATE SCHEDULE ANYWAY**

**Note: Nashi will refer to Natsu as her mom because, despite the fact that he's a dude, he gave birth to her (fuck gender roles I do what I want men can be moms too).**

**OKAY BYE HERE YOU GO**

* * *

It had been ten years since Natsu and Gray left Fairy Tail. Even though they had spent all that time alone without their guild, the two boys did not regret their decision.

When they got to Inconnu, Natsu and Gray unpacked their clothes from their bags and boxes of furniture they had previously ordered into their house. Using some of the money they had saved up, the duo was able to pay off their rent for the next nine months. Once they were settled, they met with the mayor to inform him about the situation with Natsu's pregnancy. Luckily, he and the townspeople didn't even bat an eye at their explanation and welcomed the two with open arms.

For the first couple months of Natsu's pregnancy, the couple went on any jobs the town had for them (most of them were light) and opened up their ice cream parlor. The business was successful from the start, and they ended up hiring some students who went to the local high school to help them out. Eventually Natsu needed to step out of work, but he still went to the shop with Gray to help him out a little, talk to customers, and manage Fire & Ice when the ice mage went on jobs.

Natsu and Gray were able to make some close friends who really helped out after Natsu gave birth. Natsu gave birth to their little girl, Nashi, in the middle of autumn. She was an adorable mix of the two boys with tan skin, messy black hair, and onyx eyes. Their friends helped them navigate what it takes to take care of a newborn, gave them tips, told them what the best brands were, and watched Nashi when they needed a babysitter.

After Nashi was born, Gray proposed. Knowing Natsu wouldn't care how he did it, he never had a real plan. They were on a walk by the water with their child in a stroller when Gray decided to just man up and get on one knee. Natsu said yes, of course; how could he not?

Natsu and Gray got married in the spring. It was relatively small, which the couple loved, with their close friends from the town as guests.

The ceremony took place by the water on a sunny day. While Gray wore a black tux and stood at the altar, Natsu wore a white one and was walked down the aisle by the mayor, who had become one of their closest friends and treated the two boys as his own children. They wrote their own vows, and the ceremony was funny and sweet. Their rings were simple silver wedding bands. The outside was plain but a colorless visual of fire and ice swirling around each other in ropes was engraved on the inside.

Everyone had a ton of fun at the reception. It was held in the clearing behind their home. There was a lot of drinking and everyone danced the night away. The boys hired the best chefs to cook the food, and Gray secretly recruited the local blacksmith to make some delicious fire for Natsu to eat, which he did. He said it was the best fire he'd ever had.

The newlyweds chose not to go on a honeymoon trip; they had an infant baby to care for and a new business to look after, so they didn't really have a choice. It's not like they were super eager to go on one anyway. They were content with staying in Inconnu to take care of their child and run their business, spending the day making people happy with their delicious ice cream.

Nashi grew up to be a wonderful girl. Like Natsu, she was fiercely loyal, protective, and a bit impulsive (the two parents were trying to get her to think things through), but, like Gray, she was laid-back in nature and dealt with problems very carefully.

Their daughter also grew to be a picture of her parents as she aged. Her skin only became tanner, her hair longer and wilder (just like her mother's), and her jet black hair complemented her onyx eyes extremely well. Her body was feminine and athletic, holding slight curves and toned muscles. Many of the boys in her school found her very attractive (which she was), much to her parents' dismay. But she didn't have a problem with dealing with them. She had two very powerful mages for parents, and was even learning magic herself.

From a young age, Nashi had shown a great talent for magic. As soon as she was old enough, Gray started training her in Ice Devil Slayer magic, something she was great at. While she couldn't learn Fire Dragon Slayer magic since there was no dragon to train her, she inherited some of his enhanced senses, although they were much more toned down; her's were only slightly better than the average person's.

Overall, the family was as happy as they could be. Natsu and Gray were completely and totally head over heels for each other. Their business was doing extremely well, they still went on jobs and fought each other like they normally did, and they treated, loved, and raised their daughter like she was an angel. Nashi made many friends in school, helped her parents out in the ice cream parlor, and loved her parents with all of her heart.

Sadly, fate had decided to throw the happy family a curveball.

* * *

A ten year old Nashi woke up to her alarm on Wednesday morning feeling refreshed and, surprisingly, not sleep deprived. When she looked at the clock and found she had 45 minutes to get ready for school, her first thought was that she might actually have the time to have a sit-down breakfast with her parents. And so she jumped out of her bed and made it before quickly getting dressed and throwing her school supplies in her backpack . She rushed to her bathroom and did everything else in there. When she was done getting ready, she saw that only 15 minutes had passed, she sighed in relief and cheerfully skipped out of her room and across the single story home to the kitchen.

"Hey mom, dad!" she greeted when she entered, "What's for breakfast?" She put her backpack and sat down at the table next to her dad.

Her mom responded first, back turned to her as he cooked, "You're up early. What's got you so excited?"

"I'm hungry! What are we having?" she asked eagerly. She really was hungry, but she would never tell her parents that the true reason was that she wanted to eat with them.

"You're just like your mother, always looking for food," Gray chuckled. "We're having bacon and eggs, and it seems he's just about done." Natsu set the platter full of bacon and eggs on the table and sat down before the three dug in. "So, what's going on in school today? You getting that history test back?"

"Yeah, but I'm nervous. It was hard and I don't think I did well," she claimed. The test was on Fiorian history, as that was the social studies class fifth graders took.

Natsu exclaimed, "I'm sure you did great! And it's not like you need to know all this school stuff anyway, since you're gonna be a mage and all that when you're older." A hand smacked the side of his head, and he immediately focused his attention on his husband. "Hey, what was that for?!"

"Natsu, we talked about this! She needs to actually do well and school and learn this stuff so she won't turn out to be a moron like you!"

"I'm no moron! I'm plenty smart!"

"You learned to read and write when you were ten! Most kids learn at six or seven!"

Natsu slammed his hands on the table and stood up. "You looking for a fight?! It sure sounds like you are, so I'll give you one!" Natsu walked around the table and slammed his fist to Gray's face, who was more than happy to retaliate. Soon, a brawl broke out between the two in their kitchen.

Nashi smiled. What a wonderful family she had. She loved times like this. Yes, her parents did love each other, and when they fought it meant they were happier than ever.

Nashi looked at the time, noticing she had to leave for school. She met up with her best friend May every morning. So she picked up her bag, put on her shoes, and walked out the door, but not before shouting, "Gotta go to school now, see you later!"

They both yelled a _goodbye_ in return before another smack was heard. Boy, did she really love her family.

* * *

It was recess, and Nashi was on the swings with her friends. She was having fun until a certain someone walked over. "So Nashi," he asked, his child voice dripping with resentment, "how did you do on the history test?" The boy who spoke was named Jacob. He was mean and a bully, and had a lot of fun picking on other kids, especially her. He knew he couldn't beat her physically, so he tore her down verbally.

"Better than you," she retorted. "Why do you even want to know? What do you want?"

May interrupted their conversation, "Nashi, we talked about this. He's only going to try to make you mad. You know what your-"

"Awe, how sweet. Your best friend has to come into defend you and take you away because even she knows you can't win." He crossed his arms as a smug look graced his face.

Nashi was burning with anger inside, but kept her cool. "What do you want? Why do you wanna know?"

"I'm sure you only did well because of your parents. They're mages, so they must know everything about Fiore."

"They weren't even alive during the time we're talking about!" Her fists were balled up in fury.

"Did they help you because you're too dumb to understand anything?"

Nashi couldn't take it anymore, so she just walked away, tears sliding down her face.

* * *

When Nashi got home, her parents immediately knew something was wrong because she went straight to her room. She slammed the door shut, threw her bag to the floor, and dropped to lay down on her bed.

It was silent for a moment before she heard her bedroom door creak, and a quiet voice asked, "Nashi? I'm coming in." The pinkette walked in, sat on Nashi's bed, and smoothed his hand through her hair in a way that always calmed her down when she was upset. He waited a couple minutes before speaking again. "What's on your mind sweetheart? I don't like seeing you so sad. Why don't you sit up next to me and we can talk about whatever it is."

Nashi did as he asked and sat up next to him, adjusting her clothing so it wasn't so restricting. She gulped for stating, "Jacob said something about the history test." She looked down at her hands as she played with them. "I got a 92 on it by the way."

"Great job, I'm so proud of you! I knew you could do it." Her mother turned his body to face her. "What did he say, though?"

"He said that the only reason I did well on it was because you guys as mages helped me out. He said you guys helped me learn the stuff because I'm 'too dumb to understand anything.'"

"Oh, sweetheart, look at me." He knelt on the floor in front of her and took her hands in his, forcing her to look at him. "Don't you ever think that you're stupid. You're one of the smartest girls I know. He's just trying to get under your skin and make you sad and angry, and he doesn't know the reality of what actually happened. _You_ know we didn't help you on that history test, and you did fantastic on it anyway. He doesn't know that Gray and I were never good with school or any of that. Gray hasn't gone to school since he was, like, four, and as far as I know I've never been in school. Gray said it himself this morning that I learned to read and write when I was ten! You're much smarter than the both of us _and_ him. Don't you ever let him bring you down. All right?"

She looked at him and smiled. "All right! Next time he picks on me I'm going to throw it back in his face!" she said with newfound determination.

"That's my girl. Now-" Natsu was cut off by the sound of banging. There was a shout of _what the hell_ from Gray before he heard fighting going on. "Stay here don't make a sound," Nashi's mother told her and walked silently out the door.

The pinkette walked down the hall and peered around the corner into the family room. He saw Gray surrounded by five or so mages, and it looked like he was losing. He didn't recognize the mages or the magic until he saw the guild marks on their bodies.

He immediately backed away from the corner in panic. _I thought they disbanded. When did they get that strong of magic?! Where did they get it?! I thought that magic was gone._ He looked around the corner again and he saw Gray being overpowered by the new magic, with one mage locking magic cuffs around his wrists and another tying a rag over his mouth and pulling a bag over his head. _Oh god, they're kidnapping us. They want revenge on Fairy Tail._

He quietly sprinted over to the desk in the hallway, pulled some things out of a drawer, and ran back to Nashi's room.

Nashi had never seen her mom so panicked. He walked over to her and shoved the folded piece of paper and an envelope in her hands. "Nashi, there are some men outside from a guild that want revenge. I don't have much time, so I'm going to ask you to do something for me. Listen very carefully and make sure you get each and every one of my instructions."

Nashi nodded, ready to hear what she had to do. Her parents had told and prepared her for something like this.

Natsu hoped their daughter would understand why they never told her about them being in Fairy Tail. It was something the town had agreed to hide and never talk about.

"If you unfold that piece of paper you're holding, You'll see a map. On the map is a route to our guild. I want you to go to it. I need you to go to the market and see if anyone there is going back to Crocus. When you find someone, I need you to use some of the money in that envelope to pay them for the ride. When you get to Crocus, you need to go to the train station - ask someone for directions - and buy a train ticket to Magnolia with the rest of the money. When you get to Magnolia, I need you to go to our guild. It's called Fairy Tail. Magnolia is a little confusing because it's a bigger town, so ask someone for directions to it, too. Everyone living there knows where the guild building is. When you get to Fairy Tail, I need you to tell the Master, Master Makarov, that Natsu and Gray have been taken by a guild called Raven Tail. You get all of that?"

Nashi nodded again. It was a lot to take in, though. They were part of Fairy Tail, the strongest guild in Fiore? How had they not told her? Why did they not tell her? Why did they leave? She had so many questions, but there was no time to ask them.

Natsu picked her up before lifting the lid off her laundry basket and putting her inside. He grabbed her clock and put it in there with her. "I need you hide here and wait an hour before getting out. They should have us and be long gone by then. Oh, and one last thing. I need you to tell Fairy Tail that I'm not your mother. I don't want them knowing I'm your mom because they'll take it badly and ask too many questions that you can't answer. Tell them they Gray, your dad, and I have been taken. You can say that your mom is out of the picture and that I'm helping Gray out. Tell them you don't like to talk about it. You got that?"

Now Nashi had even more questions and even less time, but she nodded once more.

Her mother gave her the best hug he could in the awkward position of her in a laundry basket before kissing her on the forehead. "Nashi, you need to stay strong. Always know that your father and I love you so, so very much, and that we wouldn't trade our time with you for the world. We love you with all of our hearts and we'll see you soon. I promise."

"I love you too, I love both of you so much," she replied

And with that, he put the lid on the laundry basket, leaving her in the dark. Going to fight Raven Tail and get ripped away from her with her dad.

* * *

When an hour passed, Nashi emerged. The home was so quiet. "Mom? Dad?" she yelled. She knew it was useless, that they were gone, taken, kidnapped, but she asked anyway. When she walked into the family room and saw the destruction, saw that they were gone, she fell into a pile on the floor and broke down into sobs. Why did they have to take her parents from her?

But then she remembered what her mom said.

_Nashi, you need to stay strong. Always know that your father and I love you so, so very much, and that we wouldn't trade our time with you for the world. We love you with all of our hearts and we'll see you soon. I promise._

Her parents told her millions of times throughout her life that she was strong, that she could do anything. They helped her many more times, making her happy when she was upset, helping her when she didn't know how to do something, giving her advice and their own experiences when she was struggling to make a decision. They had given her a gift and taught her a strong form of magic.

It was her turn to help them. She was strong, and it was time to put her strengths to use.

She was going to get her parents back.

* * *

**Holy shit I've never written faster in my entire life. It's like the words just flowed out of me through my fingertips and onto my computer keys. BUT IT'S NOT PROOFREAD AND I ONLY PUT IT THROUGH SPELLING AND GRAMMAR CHECK BECAUSE I HAVE SCHOOL WORK TO DO.**

**Longer chapter than normal. Hope that makes up for the delay a little bit. Also, sorry if the school part seemed a little rushed. I was just kind of looking for a transition into the kidnapping part and a place where Natsu could say she was strong.**

**PLOT NOTE: This takes place after the Alvarez arc. Natsu and Gray first left for Inconnu shortly after Alvarez happened.**

**I'm just going to tell you about my life the next two weeks, so you know what to expect. In the next two weeks, I have three midterms, a paper due, fall break, and the most challenging chemistry lab of the semester to prepare for. So don't expect much.**

**I hope you liked the chapter! If you want to, favorite or follow, but please please please leave a review! They mean a lot to me and I really love hearing what you think and how my writing can get better!**


	4. Chapter 3

**This is not abandoned and it never will be. One of my BIGGEST pet peeves is when people just abandon a story and never put an announcement up. I never plan on abandoning it, but if I ever do, I will announce it and leave a brief summary as to what would have happened in the rest of it.**

**I KNOW the updates are slow. I'm a college student; my life is busy, alright? Give me a break.**

**HOWEVER, I think I can manage to update at least once a month. So expect monthly updates.**

* * *

Nashi was about halfway through her journey. She had just gotten on the train in Crocus, and they had just left an hour ago. It would take five hours total to get to Magnolia, so she still had around four hours to go.

Nashi had packed her things, but decided to stay the night at her home in Inconnu so she could get some extra sleep crucial for the journey ahead. When she woke up that morning, she left for the market after she worked up the determination to save her parents. She made sure to leave a note in the kitchen telling the town that she would be gone for a while, so they wouldn't get worried.

It was relatively easy to find someone in the market traveling to Crocus, and they had offered less money for the trip than she expected. It had taken a while - a day or two - to get to Crocus because Inconnu was so secluded from the rest of Fiore, but that wasn't so bad. The family she had traveled with was very nice and accommodating, and she had fun playing with the two children and talking with their parents. They had the most adorable dog as well, which was probably the highlight of the entire experience.

When she had gotten to Crocus and separated from the family, her next step was to find the train station. This part was kind of hard, especially since Nashi had never left Inconnu before. Navigating the large capital city after living in a small, secluded, hunting and fishing village her whole life was a challenging feat. The city was very busy and many people just ignored her when she tried to ask them for directions, but she luckily ran into a nice woman with a baby who helped guide her. She had thanked her profusely for her help, and asked if there was anything she could do to make up for it. The lady had said no, so, in silent payment, she played a short, fun, laughter-filled game of peekaboo with her baby - with the mother's permission, of course.

She made her way to the train station and bought one ticket to Magnolia. It was good that the family traveling to Crocus had charged her less than she expected because, with the marked down price of the train ticket, Nashi had more money left over than intended. She made the choice to save most of what was left over and use some of it to buy herself dinner.

Now she was sitting on the train, left to her thoughts for the next four boring hours. She was busy trying to somehow contemplate the bulk of information her mother had told her yesterday in five minutes.

In the short amount of time Nashi and her mother had together before he was kidnapped, he told her that him and her father were members of a guild. But they weren't part of any regular guild. They were members of the Fairy Tail guild, the number one guild in Fiore.

Even though her family lived in a small town, they weren't living under a rock. She knew a lot about the guilds in Fiore, like the other kids at school. During lunch and recess, they talked about guilds and read _Sorcerer Magazine_ each week. Every year, when the Grand Magic Games was happening and school was on break, she would invite her friends to her house and watch it with them and her parents. All of her friends loved watching it there because her parents, since they were mages, provided some extra commentary on what was going on, what magic the members had, and who they thought was going to win. It was super fun and an event that grew larger every year.

She was in awe about the fact that somehow her and her friends had absolutely no idea that her parents were members of Fairy Tail. It was the strongest, most well-known guild in all of Fiore, so they definitely held the spotlight. It should have been impossible for even previous members to stay out of the limelight, especially ones like her parents, who have been gone for so long. So how were they able to keep the secret from being exposed?

She wasn't mad at them for keeping it a secret; in fact, she kind of understood why they did. They were members of the strongest, most famous guild in Fiore. They were probably in the spotlight constantly, and must have had many dark guilds targeting them. She couldn't imagine how they felt when they thought about raising a family there, especially when they were two guys, one of which was pregnant. They must have been so torn up about leaving their entire family, and had to make that sacrifice if they wanted to raise her safely.

All of this thinking was giving her a headache, so Nashi decided to go to sleep to make the pain of both that and her missing parents go away.

* * *

Nashi woke up to a voice over the loudspeaker shouting, "Next stop Magnolia Station! Pulling into Magnolia Station!" She immediately bolted out of her seat when she heard that. When the train pulled in, she quickly grabbed her bag and got off. She exited the station and thought of her next move.

_When you get to Magnolia, I need you to go to our guild. It's called Fairy Tail. Magnolia is a little confusing because it's a bigger town, so ask someone for directions to it, too. Everyone living there knows where the guild building is._

Nashi looked towards the town. It wasn't huge, but it was definitely a place she could easily get lost in, so she looked around for someone to point her in the right direction. When she spotted a woman selling fruit at a stand on the side of the street, she walked over.

"I don't want to bother you, but do you know where Fairy Tail is?" she asked as politely as she could. "I'm trying to get there, but don't know how.

The woman looked her way and smiled. "Of course! Are you going there to become a member? They accept a lot of children!"

Nash laughed. "You could say that. So which way is it? Sorry, I'm kind of in a rush."

"Oh, don't worry, dear," she pointed at the road straight ahead of her. "You're going to go straight down that road until you hit the main road. From there, turn right and keep walking. It's the big building at the end of the street! You can't miss it."

Nashi smiled widely and ran off, not before yelling, "Thank you so much for your help!"

When she was out of sight, she slowed to a walk, enjoying the scenery of the town. Her parents used to live here. They lived here for a long time before they made the decision to leave to Inconnu. They walked these streets with their friends many times, whether it was going on a job or visiting their friend's apartment - someone named Lucy's place, maybe? Nashi wasn't sure, as she couldn't really remember. They didn't like using names when describing their old friends, but her mom did say he was close to someone named Lucy once.

Nashi understood why they didn't like using names; it would be very easy to tell to connect them to Fairy Tail that way. The names of the people in Fairy Tail - people like Erza, Gajeel, Levy, Makarov, and Laxus - were pretty uncommon. She'd never heard of another person with those names.

After walking for a while and enjoying the city around her, she arrived at the doors of the Fairy Tail guild. Saying Nashi was nervous would be an understatement.

She was about to meet her parents' best friends. They fought with these people for years and treated them like family. What if they turned her away? What if they got suspicious and thought she was both her mom and dad's daughter, and not just her dad's? What if they found out about her parents' relationship and didn't approve?

Nashi knew that she couldn't dwell on those questions for any longer. Her parents were in danger, and they were counting on her to go to Fairy Tail and get them to save them from these Raven Tail guys.

Shoving her fears aside, Nashi pushed the doors to the Fairy Tail guild open.

* * *

**Sorry it's short! Just wanted to get something out. However, I do really like this stopping point. Leaves you on a bit of a cliffhanger.**

**I hope you liked the chapter! If you want to, favorite or follow, but please please please leave a review! They mean a lot to me and I really love hearing what you think and how my writing can get better!**


	5. Chapter 4

Nashi was met with chaos when she opened Fairy Tail's doors.

People were shouting and fighting. Mages were throwing each other all over the large guild hall. A big dust cloud had taken over the middle of the room, and flashes of light that Nashi assumed were magic could be seen in the midst of it all.

Through the cloud in the middle, the only people Nashi could make out enough to see their features were one man with long black hair, metal piercings, and black clothing, and another with short white spiky hair, a blue long sleeve shirt, and… a weird arm? She knew they were Gajeel Redfox and Elfman Strauss, so she guessed that was his magic.

There were many people watching the fighting. A woman, whom she identified as Cana Alberona, with long brown hair in a blue bikini top and brown pants was sitting at the bar and drinking out of a very large barrel. On the other end were two more women, one with long blonde hair, a white top, and blue skirt and another with scarlet red hair wearing silver armor and a blue skirt. Those had to be Lucy Heartfilia and Erza Scarlet; Erza was one of Nashi's favorite mages of Fairy Tail, and she wanted to be just as strong as her one day. The woman serving them was definitely Mirajane Strauss, with her long white hair and maroon dress. At a nearby table, two men and a woman sat together. The woman, Levy McGarden, had short blue hair and wore an orange dress, and one of the men, Droy, had black hair while the other, Jet, had orange hair.

Nashi looked down at her map, making sure that she was in the right place. When she confirmed she was she looked up and immediately panicked at what she saw.

There was a spell coming right in her direction. Some of the mages saw and went to prevent it from hitting her, but they wouldn't be able to get to her in time to block it or push her away. So she did the only thing she could think of.

Nashi dropped her map, got into the proper position, and shouted, "Ice Devil's Shield!" A wall of pinkish-white colored ice grew from the ground in front of her, covering her just in time for the incoming spell to bounce off of it and fly somewhere else. As soon as she shouted the spell, Nashi heard all of the fighting, talking, and movement in the building immediately stop.

Nashi figured they were in shock. Her dad had told her when she was learning Ice Devil Slayer Magic that the only two people he'd seen wield it were her dead grandfather, Silver, and himself. They were probably startled at the fact that they had just seen someone use the magic of a mage that had disappeared years ago. She was going to try to gently tell them that Gray was her father without startling them. _Whoops_, she thought, _now I have to think of another way of telling them without surprising them even more. I need their help to get mom and dad back, so I need them to trust me_.

Everything was silent for a few moments before Nashi heard the stern female voice of Erza Scarlet shout, "Hello? Who's there? Show yourself this instant!"

Nashi got scared and poked her head out from behind her ice wall. When she saw a bunch of angry mages with their magic readied in front of her, she gulped. These people were intimidating, but Nashi knew that they were her mom and dad's family. They would help her find them. So she continued with her mom's plan.

She dismissed her ice wall and picked up and folded her map before standing up straight. "My name is Nashi. I need to speak to Master Makarov. I have something important to tell him."

A short old man walked out from the crowd, "What is it, child? Why have you come here?"

This is where she steered away from her mom's plan. Her mother had told her to say that they were not related and he just helping out her dad, but she knew that made no sense. So she made the choice to change things around a little bit.

"My mom Natalie and my dad Gray Fullbuster were taken by a guild called Raven Tail. They told me to come here and tell you. Please help me find them." Her eyes started welling up with tears when she said that, both because it reminded her that her parents were gone and the fact that she couldn't tell everyone that her mother was actually Natsu, the Fire Dragon Slayer they worked with and loved for years, and not some chick named Natalie.

Master Makarov, along with the rest of the guild, was immediately surprised and alarmed. "Gray Fullbuster?" he questioned her, "Gray Fullbuster as in the Ice Devil Slayer and Ice-Make Mage?"

She nodded and wiped a stray tear that had started rolling down her cheek with the back of her hand. "It-it happened yesterday. I did what mom said and came here as fast as I could to tell you." She tried to compose herself, but tears just kept making their way down her face.

"Alright, why don't you sit down for a while until you calm down, and then you can tell us what happened. Do you like hot chocolate?" At another nod from her, he continued, "Mira, please make some hot chocolate for her."

"Right away, Master," Mirajane replied as she ran off towards the kitchen.

Makarov sat her down at a table in the middle of the guild. Some people walked away, while others stayed to hear her story. Mirajane brought her hot chocolate. She sat there and drank it for a moment before she told the entire story of how they were taken. About how Jacob made fun of her during recess at school that day and how her mother calmed her down at home. About the noises that interrupted their conversation and what her mother told her to do when Raven Tail left with them. About her trip to Fairy Tail and how she got there.

The members of the Fairy Tail guild took in Nashi and her story. Everyone was extremely angry at Raven Tail for kidnapping members of their family and putting a mere child through such tragedy. It was terrifying to hear what this girl went through in such a short period of time.

Nashi was a sight herself; she was most definitely Gray's child. She has his magic, jet black hair, and eyes. Her physique looked relatively similar to what Gray's was at her age, with a bit of a feminine touch. She also had his height.

The parts that they guessed had come from her mother seemed strangely familiar. She was tan with wild hair and onyx eyes. Even though Gray himself had black eyes, hers reminded them of someone else. But they decided to pay no attention to those features. They were from her mother, whom they could have seen with Gray a long time ago. They probably just didn't remember her.

When Nashi finished her story, she could sense that the mages were angry, and it scared her. It wasn't the type of anger her mother and father held for each other when they got into stupid fights; it was the type of anger that made people want to hurt and break and kill.

Levy, sensing the girl's fear, walked up to the table and sat down next to her. "Thank you so much for rushing here and sharing this information with us. We'll be sure to find them as fast as we can. Do you have anywhere to stay until then, or do you want to stay with one of us?"

"I don't have anywhere to stay, so I'll stay with one of you," she said. "Can I stay with Lucy? Mo-Dad used to talk about how much he liked your apartment."

It was not her dad who said that, but rather her mom. He used to talk about his blonde friend in the guild who had a nice apartment with a ton of food for him to eat, and now she had to guess that he was talking about Lucy.

Lucy walked forward, laughing and responding, "Of course Gray would tell you about that. Anyway, of course you can stay with me! Let's head there now, you look super tired. If you're hungry, I can make you something to eat."

With that, she took Lucy's hand and followed her home.

* * *

_A/N: Here's your monthly chapter for November! I'm so sorry it's kind of short and a little rushed. I just finished up my midterms the week before last (two weeks ago) and was hanging out with my family and friends during Thanksgiving break. I have finals in two weeks and will be busy with the holidays the week after those, so my December is packed! I'll try to get another chapter out at the end of the month._

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you like the story and want to read more, please consider favoriting and following! Please leave a review, I love reading about your thoughts and fixing any mistakes I missed that you caught!_

_And to my readers in the US, I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving!_


	6. Chapter 5

After Lucy left with Nashi, the room was silent. None of them could even begin to comprehend what had just happened; so much had been revealed in such a short amount of time that it left everyone speechless.

The guild had gained many new members over the last ten years, and those who joined after Gray had left were confused. They knew who Gray was; he was a popular mage when he was in the guild and many mages across Fiore used to talk about him. But they had never actually met him. They didn't know much of anything beyond what the public knew about him years ago. On top of that, the guild members who had met and were friends with Gray didn't like to talk about him. He had been missing for years, and talking about him usually made them quite emotional.

The Fairy Tail members who had known him, however, were completely stunned.

When Gray originally left, they all thought he'd only be gone for a couple weeks, maybe a month or two. But as weeks turned to months and then to years, they started getting more upset and worried. They all missed their guildmate, a member of their family, dearly, and never got to say goodbye properly. They were searching for him for a couple months, but no trace of him or his body was found. The guild eventually accepted the fact that he had probably moved on with his life; maybe he'd decided to move to Isvan, or met a girl he liked and stayed with her. They all moved on with their lives as well, and even though it was hard, they did it since they thought it's what Gray would have wanted. Life was peaceful, or as much as it could be at Fairy Tail.

None of them expected the girl, Nashi, to walk in. Many of them had expected Gray to find someone to spend his life with one day, but none of them anticipated him ever having a child. He had never shown any indication that he wanted kids when he was with them. He was a secretive person, sure, but he never talked about it or interacted with children that much.

On top of that, Nashi looked no more than ten years old. It dawned on everyone that Natalie was most likely pregnant when he left and the reason he decided to do so. Why hadn't he told anyone about his relationship or the girl's pregnancy?

Mirajane was the first to speak up, "Well that was certainly interesting."

"Is anyone really surprised?" Cana asked and took another swig of her beer. "Women have always loved him. I think Juvia over here would agree with me." She nudged the woman next to her with her elbow, laughing when she was swatted away.

"Juvia may have had feelings for Gray once, but she's moved on. Juvia is in love with Lyon," Juvia responded, hearts practically forming in her eyes as she thought about her boyfriend.

When Gray left, Juvia was sad, but she was able to hold onto the hope that he would eventually come back. However, as weeks passed without anyone hearing from him or seeing him around Fiore, she quickly became more distraught. When someone from the guild told her that he probably wasn't coming back, it had rained in Magnolia for days. However, a couple days after that incident, Lyon showed up at the guild to comfort Juvia because he heard from someone that she was very upset about Gray's absence (everyone thinks Mira told him). He was able to cheer her up and agreed to go on a date with him as a thank you for making her feel better. They've been happily together ever since then.

When it was evident that Cana wasn't going to respond, Levy asked the Master, "I know that we really need to find Gray and his wife, but can we start researching tomorrow? It's getting late and Gajeel and I have to pick up the kids from Alzack and Bisca's." Gajeel, who was next to her, only grunted in response.

Gajeel and Levy had started dating a couple years after Gray left; Levy had gotten tired of them dancing around each other's feelings and asked him out when she realized he wasn't going to do it. They dated for a couple years before Gajeel (finally) proposed. They got married two years ago; the wedding was small and only their friends and the guild attended, but everyone had a blast. Their two children were twins, a boy and a girl named Daisuke and Hikari, and were one years old.

Makarov thought for a moment before agreeing, "Everyone go home and get some rest. We have a busy day ahead of us!"

* * *

Lucy put her keys in a little dish on the coffee table. "Have you had dinner, Nashi?" she asked, "I can make you something if you haven't."

The ravenette shook her head. "I didn't eat lunch. Can you make me something?"

Lucy turned to look at her and smiled before pulling Nashi into the kitchen.

The kitchen and living room walls were painted a tasteful light brown. The kitchen had gray granite countertops and white cabinets, with little pops of color displayed through the kitchen essentials. A small table made of dark wood sat in the middle. In the living room was a pretty pink couch with a white paisley carpet on the hardwood floor and a wood coffee table on top. A nice television lacrima was mounted on the wall in front of the setup.

She exclaimed, "Of course I can! What would you like? Do you have any allergies? I know I have salmon and chicken, and I think there's some pasta here somewhere. There's also some leftover lasagna if you want that."

"Can I have some chicken and pasta? Mom makes it for me all the time."

"Sure! Do you like chicken piccata?" At Nashi's nod, she continued, "I'll make that, I can't guarantee it'll be as good as your mom's, but I'll try my best!" They both laughed awkwardly and an uncomfortable tension entered the room.

Lucy started opening cabinets and drawers, preparing the mean for the two of them. Nashi watched silently as she worked diligently, mouth watering over the smells in the room. "You can go look around if you want. There's a bookshelf in my room if you like reading," Lucy said, her back turned away.

"Thank you," Nashi replied before hopping off the chair she was sitting in.

Nashi thought Lucy's apartment was very nice and homey. It was a simple three room apartment: a bedroom, a bathroom, and a combined living room and kitchen.

Nashi absolutely adored Lucy's bedroom. For starters, a floral pink wallpaper adorned her walls. Her bed sat next to a large window with a beautiful view of one of Magnolia's many canals. Next to the head of the bed was a white vanity with a red stool in front of it, makeup tubes and cases sprawled across the top. Next to that, in the corner, was a white dresser. On the next wall was a brown dresser with a white curtain along the bottom, blocking some shelves built into it. A bookshelf sat next to the door. In the middle of the room, on top of a yellow rug, was a table and chairs and an armchair with a coffee table in front of it.

The walls of the bathroom were painted a teal color. There was a stone bathtub in front of a small window, with brown baskets on the floor next to it. The shelf on the wall contained different toiletries. A single sink vanity sat on a wall with a mirror above it, the toilet right next to it.

It had been a while before Lucy shouted, "Nashi! Dinner's ready!"

Nashi came bounding into the room. She walked towards the stove and went to grab a plate before Lucy said, "Go sit down, I'll make a plate for you." Nashi sat down at the table. Lucy made her a plate and handed her some utensils. She made her own plate and sat down across from her.

An awkward silence hung over the room as they ate before Lucy cleared her throat. "You said your dad has talked about me before. Did he talk about the guild a lot?"

Nashi swallowed the bite of food she was chewing and responded, "Not really. Sometimes he told me stories, but he didn't like to talk about it."

Lucy's face dropped a little. "Oh. Well, did you keep up to date with guild news? Since you and your dad are mages, and your dad was part of Fairy Tail, I'd assume he checked up on us every once in a while." She took another bite of her dinner

Nashi exclaimed, "Oh yeah! We read _Sorcerer Magazine_ together every week! There's no guild where we live, but me and my friends at school talked about guilds and magic all the time! When the Grand Magic Games came on, we used to invite a lot of people to our house to watch them. Dad gave the best commentary. He would explain what was going on and talked about who he thought was going to win. I used to make bets with him! And he would explain how some types of magic worked for anyone who didn't know. It used to be so much fun! We always wanted Fairy Tail to win." She went on a tangent, taking bites of her food as she spoke.

When Nashi stopped talking, Lucy could immediately tell something was wrong. The smile that had previously stretched across her face was gone. She picked up her fork, finishing the food on her plate with a frown. When they were both done, before picking up their dishes Lucy asked, "Nashi, is everything alright?"

Nashi looked down at her hands, her eyes visibly watering with tears. "I miss them," she whispered. "I miss mommy and daddy."

Lucy had never taken care of a kid before, so she had little idea of what to do when Nashi said that. But she thought back to what she wished her father would do to comfort her as a kid, and went from there.

She got up from her seat and walked to the girl's side, and pulled her into a tight hug, which was returned.

After a few moments, Lucy pulled back from the hug and put her hands on the girl's shoulders. "We're going to find your parents, okay? Fairy Tail won't stop until they're by your side again." Nashi wiped the tears from her face. "Why don't we go to bed? You traveled for a long time."

Nashi nodded and asked, "Can I sleep with you tonight? I can sleep on the couch tomorrow, but mom and dad let me sleep in their bed when I'm upset."

Lucy smiled. "Of course you can. Now let's get ready."

* * *

_First off, I know that this chapter is rushed and not very good. I'm sorry, but I'm also not, because life is crazy right now and writing is on the backburner. I did not proofread it, so please let me know if you catch any mistakes._

_Y'all, shit has gone down since I last updated this. I am doing very well, though._

_On a happy note, I finished my first semester of college and I'm almost done with my first year! I wish I could have been there for the whole thing, but it sadly didn't work out that way._

_The past few months have been hard for me, with coronavirus and everything. I moved out of my dorm for the rest of the semester. I wish I could go back, but I understand and I'm happy to be home. My family and I are all safe and healthy, and we're staying inside as much as we can. There's a lot of cases where I live, but it flattened and should go down soon._

_Friendly reminder to everyone reading to stay home! We have to flatten the curve and protect those who are immunocompromised and/or have underlying health conditions._

_Sorry for dumping all of this on you guys. It may seem like I'm not dealing with this well, but I promise that I AM DOING GREAT. The only thing that's really giving me any anxiety is my classes, but that's normal._

_I hope you are doing well. If any of you need someone to talk to, I'm always here! My tumblr is jules828t , but I can also chat on here._


	7. Author's Note

Hi. This is not a new chapter.

I am writing this note to tell you that I am editing, rewriting, and reworking this fic. Please keep reading, as I go into more detail (my reasoning, what I'm doing, how long I think this will take, etc.) below.

I'm sorry for the long update gaps. I really hate taking forever. College has kept me super busy; I took classes all summer, and my classes this semester are already intense (also more on that below).

I have been super unmotivated to write anything for this fic for a while now, and I'm sure that shows in my writing in past chapters. I was unsure of why for a long time. I thought I was unmotivated to write in general, but a couple fics I wrote for some events made me realize it's not that. So it got me thinking.

I realized in the past couple of weeks that I'm not happy with this fic. I love it, but I had a vision when I started writing it and it hasn't been living up to it. I am editing and rewriting it to get it closer to the vision I had. I want this to live up to the expectations I have for it.

There's a bunch of things I'm not happy with and a lot I want to do in this process. First of all, in my opinion, my writing in this fic is terrible and it bothers me. I think I'm a pretty decent writer and this just doesn't live up to my expectations. I want to edit and rewrite some parts of this so that it does reach them. In addition, I originally had this fic going in one direction and I now realize that I really want to go in another one, one I'm happier with and better at writing. I need to change some details and add some things to do that. The last and biggest reason I am reworking this is that there are elements of this fic that I originally put in that I am now extremely uncomfortable with. Along with some smaller things that are getting on my nerves, there's one detail I put in that has been bothering me a lot and if I want to be happy with this fic, I need to change/get rid of it.

The combination of all of these things has made me decide to edit/rewrite/rework this fic. I already have a general plan for what I'm going to do, and I'm super excited to get started. I want to overall edit/rewrite most of it and overall add more detail to it (and fix the plot holes). I really want add stuff about what's going on with Gray and Natsu (I really love writing angsty, dark stuff), and I need to add to previous chapters to do that. I'm going to take out the details that are bothering me, including the big one (you'll know what it is once it's gone). There's one chapter that I'm going to remove and delete entirely (will have little effect on the fic), because it is the perfect embodiment of literally everything I'm mad at (and it spawned that detail I hate so it can't stay).

The first upload will be a batch of two chapters and updates after that will be for one. Once I finish reworking those first two, I'm going to delete all of the chapters after it rather than leaving them up (they won't be lost forever, I do all of my writing in google docs and have everything there).

Now for the timing. As you all know, I am literally the worst at updating. I have ADHD so my motivation is always everywhere. Also, I made the terrible decision (aka I didn't really have a choice) to torture myself in regards to my classes/workload this semester (keep up with that disaster on my tumblr, jules828t). However, I really want to try to keep somewhat of a writing and updating schedule, even if that is once every month or two. I am excited to rework this and to make it something I'm proud of, but I need to stay on top of school, so I am not too sure on the timing. As of right now, my plan is to have the first two new chapters out by the end of September.

Thank you guys for reading this. I really hope you understand (and hopefully support) my decision. I want this fic to be something great, and this is what I have to do to get it there. This note will be deleted once I upload the first two new chapters.


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